Shipwreck survival

[Not another shrubbery]

Based on the various posts, it sounds like the survivors are hosed unless there is forthcoming help near the spot where they reach land. The worst part (besides the lack of any gear) is NDD's analysis showing that they'll be at or very near 0 FP, with most of that only recoverable by getting warm.

[Culture20]

Originally Posted by NineDaysDead

Fire is very important

If any PC can find an iron nail, or has an iron cloak pin, iron scabbard tip, etc. they should be able to start a fire easily (after trying to strike it with many rocks).

[Michele]

It seems nobody mentioned Scrounging. That would easily complement Survival.

If this is a rocky coast, I'd consider using either to locate a small cave or overhanging rock well above the current sea level. In there, even if outside it's raining, you might find dry dead seaweed and dry wooden flotsam. In the cave or under the rock you will also be out of the rain and out of the wind.

[safisher]

Originally Posted by Culture20

If any PC can find an iron nail, or has an iron cloak pin, iron scabbard tip, etc. they should be able to start a fire easily (after trying to strike it with many rocks).

You need to have high carbon steel, not iron. A knife blade, old file, axe, etc. This is because iron is soft but steel is brittle and you want to shear off some tiny oxidizing particles, not simply make a dent. Many types of stone or rock will work, it just needs to be sharp enough to shave off a tiny piece of the steel, which is where the spark is coming from.

[safisher]

If they cannot find a cave or overhang, or in addition to it, they will want to build a debris shelter -- basically a big thick soft fluffy pile of leaves and dry moss, covered in a thick layer of leafy waterproof and insulating branches, etc. This can help preserve body heat, and basically replace clothing until the weather improves. They can scrounge for food, such as berries or local fruits, tubers, wild onions, birds eggs, nuts, etc. They can also scoop up food from the coastline, creeks, etc. Fish, fish eggs, shell fish, etc., all depending on the season. If they can get dry wood right away they can use various friction methods to start a fire without tools -- a hand drill or fire plow, probably.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHPwkuH3tXg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcbMiXP-_QU

Yes, some of this might initially be at -5, but scrounging should help turn up stones and sticks to make improvised tools very quickly in the process. Power-Ups 3 Talents lists a benefit for the Survivor talent, p. 16: Alternative Benefit: "Success with Scrounging improvises simple equipment for other skills that removes -1/level from the penalty for being improvised (p. B345). This means a branch used as a club with Broadsword, a first-aid kit used with Surgery to remove a tick, etc. – not turning a soda can into a
radar dish. For that, get Gadgeteer."

[Terwin]

Originally Posted by Vynticator

Why they're naked - the ship sank several miles offshore. They'll have had to swim for a couple of hours. If they're smart, they'll have ditched their clothes to reduce drag. Dark Ages (9th Century) wool shirts aren't a great swimming aid.

Wool is a good insulator even when wet(better when dry of course).
If they are in cold water, they will survive longer and probably get farther if they keep their wool clothes on.(sort of like a wet-suit, it will keep the already partially warmed water next to their skin as they swim)

Water also makes cloth air-resistant, especially thick cloth.
In life-saving classes they teach taking off your pants/long sleeve shirt, tying the ends of the legs/sleeves, and filling it with air for a make-shift flotation device. Thick wool cloth seems like it should work even better than denim.

Shoes and any metallic clothing(like armor) you would want to ditch, everything else you want to keep.

In Scuba they say that you loose body heat 25 times faster in water than air, and you want a wet-suit for anything less than 80-90 degree(F, 27-32C) water.

If they ditch their wool clothing, I would give additional penalties to the thermal shock rolls because they are exposing their bodies to an increased volume of water as they swim.

[Vynticator]

Originally Posted by Terwin

Wool is a good insulator even when wet(better when dry of course).
If they are in cold water, they will survive longer and probably get farther if they keep their wool clothes on.(sort of like a wet-suit, it will keep the already partially warmed water next to their skin as they swim)

Water also makes cloth air-resistant, especially thick cloth.
In life-saving classes they teach taking off your pants/long sleeve shirt, tying the ends of the legs/sleeves, and filling it with air for a make-shift flotation device. Thick wool cloth seems like it should work even better than denim.

Shoes and any metallic clothing(like armor) you would want to ditch, everything else you want to keep.

In Scuba they say that you loose body heat 25 times faster in water than air, and you want a wet-suit for anything less than 80-90 degree(F, 27-32C) water.

Some of this *might* be true for regular humans; not for these temperature tolerant guys though. The water will gradually chill them but it's the long swim to shore that is going to be the main sap on their fatigue.

Clothing- I think if you have well fitted modern machine made wool clothes, they can be ok to swim in. Anything loose, though, baggy or saggy (as might be more typical of dark ages tailoring) will be warm but create huge drag. Also much less likely to work as a buoyancy aid due to size of holes in knitwear. The drag is the key here because as I say, the swim speed and overall time taken swimming is going to be the killer factor.

Wetsuits- you're pretty ok with minimal coverage until below 65'F, even without increased temperature tolerance.

Once they get out into the near-freezing late October air, damp and exposed to the wind, a debris shelter and a fire are going to be two priorities for Survival. One of them has a high IQ and Survival Coastal-16, so even with Last Gasp penalties they might make it through the first night. I'm told a hardwood plank and a softwood drill can make a fire- let's hope they can scrounge up some dry wood from the forest near shore!

[Dalillama]

Originally Posted by Vynticator

Why they're naked - the ship sank several miles offshore. They'll have had to swim for a couple of hours. If they're smart, they'll have ditched their clothes to reduce drag. Dark Ages (9th Century) wool shirts aren't a great swimming aid.

If they're smart, they won't have ditched their belts with knives attached to them. The minimal drag is more than outweighed by the fact that a knife is an essential universal tool when you get to shore.

[NineDaysDead]

Originally Posted by Vynticator

Some of this *might* be true for regular humans; not for these temperature tolerant guys though. The water will gradually chill them but it's the long swim to shore that is going to be the main sap on their fatigue.

How many levels of Temperature Tolerance do they have?

[Vynticator]

Originally Posted by NineDaysDead

How many levels of Temperature Tolerance do they have?

Three levels. Two of the three PCs are also Very Fit. I'm thinking number three might well slip into unconsciousness near the end of the swim, nice and dramatic, adding extra urgency to the scrounging for resources and shelter to make a fire once they're out.

Thanks for the maths and the refs to Supers rules on water cooling. I do own Supers but haven't fully digested it yet. Very handy to help gauge what will be a dramatic challenge for very powerful PCs, and what would instead be a rather anticlimactic party wipe by drowning!